it happened in a trailer park in southern anne arundel county. roosevelt leftwich has now. >> reporter: the man's body was found in a trailer in the patuxent waterfront water park, five miles from the prince george's county line. authorities say a neighbor checked on the victim, hadn't seen him in a while. he got to the door, noticed the smell and called police. police said carbon monoxide levels were deadly levels. >> our units put personal protective equipment on and went on with a carbon monoxide monitor and immediately got a reading of over 800 parts per million which is extremely high level. they proceeded with their investigation, found a deceased male in the dwelling. along with two deceased cats in the dwelling. their investigation further revealed they found a generator inside the dwelling. >> reporter: he says the gas power generator wasn't running but investigators are still

trying to see if it ran out of fuel or was malfunctioning. he emphasizes under no circumstances should a gas power generator or any type of gas power device be used in a small space like a home or garage. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. carbon monoxide is known as silent killer. it has no smell. some symptoms include headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and chest pain. however, those symptoms are also for other medical conditions so you may not know you've been exposed until it's too late. your best defense, have a carbon monoxide detector in your home. they sell for about $20. now to the latest on the so-called east coast rapist. aaron thomas pleaded not guilty today in connecticut. police arrested thomas earlier this month based on dna evidence. he's believed responsible for rapes and other attacks on 17 women over seven years. at least one of the alleged attacks happened in maryland.

thomas told investigators he started committing the crimes in 1991, when he was 19 years old. a carroll county man can be held criminally responsible for attacking his wife with a hammer last march. a judge ruled a mental condition may have played a role in anthony somogyi's attack on his wife but the evidence is not enough to prove that he was not criminally responsible. he's charged with attempted second degree murder. and use of a attempted weapon with attempt to injury. no trial date yet. now to the datest developments, an american f-15 fighter jet crashed and the pentagon says it was not shot down. the crash was because of mechanical problems. both crew members ejected, landing in the friendly rebel town in libya. they are back in the u.s. tonight. meanwhile president obama says only pro-democracy rebels in libya can win the struggle.

>> democracy can't be imposed from the outside. it must spring from the hearts and souls of those who seek it. >> in washington there's a growing chorus of criticism of the president using his policy from the left and right. conservative republicans say he lacks policy and liberal democrats say he needs to consult congress before launching major military operations. to catch up with the latest from japan. officials continue to struggle to control the damaged nuclear plants. jamie costello has more. >> reporter: a reminder, go to abc2news.com and we have our earthquake and tsunami japan page set up for you. we have how you can donate to the american red cross, some of the headlines, but here, the tweets, you can't keep your

eyes off it. it just passed over, they are in search of, in japan, 300 interpreters, looking for 300 interpreters, and there's a shortage of medicine for the elderly in japan. the key containment of the nuclear plant is getting the power back on. so cooling systems can be turned back on today in japan. at the fukushima nuclear power plant a pool of spent fuel rods in reactor 2 that had been close to the boiling point earlier now appears to be cooling producing fears more nuclear steam could be released. workers managed to reconnect all six damaged reactors there to the power grid. >> they are not turning on the pumps yet. the media gets it wrong. they connected the wires to the pumps but haven't turned the pumps on for fear of explosion. >> reporter: thousands of japanese are still homeless wondering what they are going to do and where to go next. rescuers sought through mountains of twisted medal and wood. one person came from tokyo to

look for his family and on sunday found his niece's body washed ashore. now he looks everyday for his sister. among the earthquake/tsunami victims american taylor anderson, english teacher here, helped evacuate her students to higher ground before riding home on her bike. she never made it. town after town along this battered coastline, there's little but devastation. amateur video shows waves swallowing homes, water racing through the streets. the international atomic agency now says the people in the evacuation area around the plant are being exposed 1,600 times the normal amount of radiation. again, go to our web site, abc2news.com for the latest on japan. kelly? >> you mentioned the pictures. an australian living in japan captured this image here of people at rising water at a costco in osaka. he said he witnessed panic

shopping even though this city was virtually unaffected by the earthquake and tsunami. it's been 11 days now since that massive tsunami and earthquake hit japan and families continue to search for missing loved ones. crews work round the clock to clear homes battered by the tsunami. about 500 bodies were found so far and many haven't even been identified. a member could come and check to see if their loved ones are among the dead. stay with abc2 news and abc2news.com for the very latest developments on the devastating quake and tsunami in japan. we have a special section right there on our home page, a photo slide show, eyewitness accounts of the devastation and how you can help. you can find it under the spotlight section on the right side of our home page. would you know what to do in the event of an emergency or disaster?

the baltimore county fire and ems wants to make sure you're prepared. a training session is being held in towson. the program teaches people about what to do in an emergency, fire safety and how to help neighbors. >> it's a good idea. what to look for, how to be prepared, have your medicines, medication, if you're on medication, have it quickly. two to three days. have enough provisions with you to last two or three days. be able to help neighbors, if it's a disaster going on. >> after completion of the program volunteers will be certified in cpr. nice spring day out there on this second full day of the season. tough to complain. low 60s, sunshine. but, all things must come to an end, all good things.

let's look at what we're seeing this afternoon. out there now, 62 degrees at bwi marshall. widespread 60s and a few upper 50s across easton and pax river but for the most part, pleasant and above average temperature-wise, spring day. a few clouds passed through at times today. there's some additional cloud cover out here into western maryland but for the most part we've been high and dry. there is wet weather developing as we speak out across the upper midwest. new storm system and the track does bring it through maryland tomorrow. we'll talk about what that means for your wednesday but in the meantime, a fine evening out there, upper 50s. should stay dry the next several hours at least. back with more in a minute. if you've driven down bradley avenue lately in towson and felt like something was missing this might be a missing statue. sunday morning a pastor at the immaculate conception church went down the property's steep hill and discovered the concrete likeness of the virgin mary had been toppled from its base by vandals.

a spokesman for the archdiocese of baltimore says insurance won't cover the cost of repairing the damage and putting the statue back in its proper place. more than 50 dogs taken from the home in pasadena up for adoption today. we told you about this yesterday. most of the dogs are small, including poodles, and chin chilas. many people lined up at the animal shelter to take one home. at 6:00, why so many people showed you -- up to adopt these dogs in particular. many people will hit the water to go boating. sometimes there are accidents. coming up, abc2 works for you with tips on how to keep you safe this season. millions take medicine for cholesterol but a new study raises questions about the effectiveness of one kind of medication. plus, carroll county students have a brand new place to play. we'll show you where it is.

in a troubled economy like this it's not an easy task for schools to raise money for much-needed items. that didn't stop one elementary school in sykesville. a new playground took almost six years to get here but officially opened today. and abc2 news tim rutherford was there. >> reporter: six years of determination finally paid off today for the folks at caroltown elementary school. six years of collecting loose change, raffles, restaurant nights and bake sales led today to this. >> our new playground is officially open. >> yeah. >> reporter: new school play dprowndz -- grounds are not inexpensive to build and it took a grant from the playground manufacturer to make it happen. >> it took six years to raise $29,000. it would have taken quite a bit

longer i'm sure, we're grateful. >> reporter: cheryl and whitney frye are the main force that's drove this to completion. their fifth graders were in kindergarten when they started the fundraising. >> i think it's good they saw this before leaving the elementary school. i think they are excited to see it happen before their time was up in the elementary school. >> reporter: the playground is a needed addition to the area. >> the whole community is growing and expanding. another playground is really what we needed here. >> reporter: they wanted to make sure the playground was inclusive. >> all students build their fitness time here. >> reporter: for the kids, one word kept popping up. >> i think this new playground is awesome! >> awesome! >> awesome. >> reporter: the parents can finally relax.

>> i day we've been waiting for. we've been looking forward to. >> reporter: in sykesville, tim rutherford, abc2 news. >> awesome. how about the playground for adults now? you'll see them in south florida, miami and miami beach recently put out the gyms. anybody can stop by for a workout. it's free. it's part of an effort to get people moving. to fight the growing obesity problem. take a look at this. it's a human shuttle. 2,100 nasa workers did this to mark the space shuttle's 30th anniversary. >> to celebrate the legacy of the shuttle program. they've all been very interested in participating in anything they can to commemorate the program as it winds down. >> the event was also up. the calendar says parts of

california still looking like the dead of winter. about four feet of snow fell around yosemite national park in 24 hours. many of the roads around the park had to be shut down. rangers say they have not seen this weather in at least 15 years. all right. take a look outside. what a fantastic spring day. downtown baltimore. you see more and more boats lining up outside the rusty scupper so we're on the edge of major spring fever, i got a feeling. we had a taste of it today. but things will get chillier later this week before warming up for good. 62 now though. winds from the northwest at 6, they will be variable through the night and day tomorrow. at times shifting north and at times going south. how about a look at some of the weather across the region today. baltimore finding a mix of

clouds and sun. also, parkville today, early cloud cover giving way to widespread sunshine. that really allowed things to warm up nicely, light breezes, a mix of clouds and sun greeting us in ellicott city as well. look at some of the highs, nice stuff. 63 ellicott city. 60 cockeysville. 62 davidsonville. milford 59. centreville 60. easton 60. not bad. maryland's most powerful doppler radar showing all clear right now. right now temperature cooling off a little to the north and east. there's some cooler air bottled up from philly to new england where it's quite chilly now. the mid-atlantic kind of in the battleground zone between the dwindling chilly air in new england and across the southeast, just pleasantly mild here right now. big breezes, they will pick up during the day tomorrow. and temperatures will be a little cooler tomorrow thanks to the rain and additional cloud cover. it's more unsettled weather tomorrow. some increasing cloud cover blowing from the west.

a couple of isolated rain showers being picked up on maryland's most powerful doppler radar, up in western pennsylvania. but the main storm is still centered well north and west of us, up into the upper midwest now. just beginning to develop. you can actually make out the trailing cold front here. see that sharp cutoff there? in that cloud line over illinois and missouri? that is the boundary, circulation just getting its act together. next storm due in, we'll see the early signs of this, morning showers probably tomorrow, but the main storm i don't think arrives until tomorrow, tomorrow evening, a couple of thunderstorms could come in too. a lot of warm air south of us will help fuel the possibility of at least a few storms. we think the severe weather threat tomorrow will be mainly confined west of maryland, west virginia, southern ohio and eastern kentucky. our futurecaster brings that first round of showers towards 2:00 a.m. may have wet roads for the morning commute. then we take you to 2:00 tomorrow afternoon, line of showers, maybe a few thunderstorms in this. but again we think the roughest weather stays primarily west.

then tomorrow night, 8:00, we get steadier rain in, could be a wet evening commute. and finally we blow the whole thing out thursday, could there be a brief mixed shower with a few snowflakes on thursday morning early? it's possible. but i think that is mainly going to be from pennsylvania north, not so much in maryland. 44 tonight. clouds increasing, rain very late. our 2-degree guarantee 55. periods of rain, a few thunderstorms possible but mainly severe weather should stay to our west. 40 tomorrow night, showers lingering, should taper off by dawn on thursday. 7-day forecast, again, as we look ahead here, the chance of a mixed shower mainly north of us wednesday morning. we'll get colder air for the weekend, still indications are in the 40s saturday and sunday. overnights around 32. could we get a little something? it's possible but the sun angle so high in march it melts off very quickly. we could get something this weekend but i think it's a long

shot. i'm ready for spring fever. felt like it today. >> are you a leader? >> depends on what i'm leader. if you're a natural born leader you can apparently thank your parents for that. more on a new study that shows how this is tied to health and wealth. and turning your picky eater into a healthy eater. a new program that helps kids find foods that are not only good for them but are downright delicious.

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in tonight's health alert -- what is

prescribed for patients who cannot take the more familiarstatin drugs for cholesterol. it may not lower cholesterol for people with diabetes yet prescriptions for the drug increased more than 117% between 2002 and 2009. many experts are now concerned about whether these drugs are pushed on patients by doctors and drug companies without any proven benefits. listen to this, women aren't the only ones getting nipped and tucked. the latest data shows the rate of plastic surgery procedures is not only on the rise for women but the surgeries are becoming more an more popular among men. the american society of plastic surgeons report in 2010 men had more than one million plastic surgery procedures. a new study suggests that your birth order plays a role in your health and wealth. first-borns get food allergies more often than their younger

siblings. if you may not be able to pete peanut butter -- eat peanut butter, on average your iq is higher than your brothers or sisters. you can also hold a leadership position. after the youngest sibling, you're more likely to take risks. as for the youngest sibling. the baby of the family is 50% more likely to play dangerous sports than their older siblings. everyone has the potential to be a picky eater. now a program is teaching even the pickiest to pick healthy. the classes are based on cooks books. the kids are learning from italy, mexico and china why making foods from different countries -- the co-author yvette garfield wants kids to see trying new things can be tasty, not just healthy. >> i want kids to feel empowered, feel connected to the rest of the world.

connect children to other countries, the more involved they become in other places as well. coming up, five people are dead after flames rip through an apartment home. more on to what went wrong, at 5:30. how socially connected is baltimore? turns out we actually have some work to do. how charm city measured up against other social networking areas.

the most boating accidents, when they happen and how to make sure it doesn't happen to you. plus, a first grader parts ways with some of his favorite toys to help people in japan.

if you're addicted to discounts there's some specials coming your way. why new deals are coming to maryland shoppers. but first, with so many boaters and so much water this season there are bound to be accidents. maryland ranks pretty high on the list for mishaps in the water. don harrison explains why. >> reporter: the national safe boating council released a survey for 2009 that puts maryland at number three when it comes to states that have the most boating accidents. behind only florida and california. according to that survey, there were 203 reporteddable boating accidents and 147 of them involved injuries. most of the accidents in maryland occurred in july and on sundays. >> boating is part of the culture. >> reporter: sergeant sean in